SAP and Microsoft Introduce Duet Software; Bringing Together the Worlds of Productivity and Enterprise Applications

WALLDORF, Germany and REDMOND, Wash. — May 2, 2006 — Twelve months after first unveiling plans to create “Project Mendocino” — a joint product that enables people to interact quickly and easily with SAP business processes and data through Microsoft® Office applications — SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) and Microsoft Corp. today announced that the two companies are scheduled to ship the product on time in June, 2006. The product is officially named Duet software for Microsoft Office and SAP. Nearly 100 joint customers and industry partners — including Atmel and Infosys — have been exploring the software’s benefits in early release versions since late 2005. SAP and Microsoft also announced plans to enhance the capabilities of Duet this year and to release additional business scenarios in the second half of 2006.

Duet allows information workers to use their familiar Microsoft Office environment to access selected SAP business processes and data. This improved and flexible access to dedicated SAP application functionality will help companies who use Duet to save time and money, increase process compliance, and improve decision making.

Each day, millions of information workers use the Microsoft Office system to work and collaborate. However, most of them also must tap into enterprise processes and information in order to do their jobs. Lacking a unified link between a company’s structured business process and accurate information can lead to unsound decision making and non-compliance with company policies. With Duet, companies can increase user adoption of enterprise systems and business processes by offering a familiar environment that is rapidly deployable and requires virtually no training.

“When people are unaware that information exists or lack the time to find what is needed, they risk making bad decisions,” said Mark Levitt, VP for IDC’s collaboration and enterprise workplace research. “Duet is a business mashup of Microsoft Office applications with SAP enterprise information and processes that can improve the quality and speed of decision making and workforce productivity. With Duet, SAP will be easier to access and more relevant for many more users who spend their workdays in the ‘Microsoft’ Office.”

Early Successes with Duet

Among the nearly 100 customers and partners participating in the Duet preview program is Atmel, a worldwide leader in the design and manufacturing of microcontrollers, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency (RF) components. Utilizing Duet’s budget monitoring scenario support, Atmel expects to drive enhanced data transparency and information sharing across the global organization to achieve greater business process efficiencies and productivity.

“Duet brings together our Microsoft and SAP environments in a seamless manner, empowering our information workers with greater visibility and access to SAP business data, including financial reporting, from a widely used and familiar user interface,” said Mikes Sisois, vice president of Planning/IT and CIO, Atmel. “For Atmel, this is a tremendous value add, as it enables smarter decision making, and in turn, higher productivity.”

Industry partners of both SAP and Microsoft in the systems integrators and solution providers space have also participated in the Duet preview program and are eagerly anticipating Duet’s availability.

“At Infosys, we have tested and implemented the Duet software within our own business which runs on Microsoft and SAP software,” said Chandrashekar Kakal, head of Infosys’ Enterprise Solutions Business Unit. “Our clients demand results from their I.T. investments and rely on Infosys to deliver. With our long-standing alliance partners, Microsoft and SAP, Infosys is uniquely positioned and ready to offer Duet-based solutions to our clients to address their business needs.”

Helping Companies Improve Visibility and Compliance

Duet is jointly developed, sold, marketed, and supported by SAP and Microsoft. Today, the companies kicked off a joint marketing campaign including advertising, a joint website (http://www.duet.com) where customers can learn more about the product and a global, 13-city product roadshow, which begins June 13, 2006.

Duet delivers significant value to organizations and their employees, and currently enables companies to gain more control over:

  • Budget monitoring: Gives managers seamless access to the financial data they need to make better decisions.

  • Time management: Enables employees to record work and billable hours using their Microsoft Office Outlook® calendar, and automatically synchronizes and updates Outlook appointments with mySAP ERP, the SAP application for enterprise resource planning (ERP).

  • Leave management: Enables employees to submit personal leave requests and handle management approvals processes through Outlook, thereby enabling data synchronization and process compliance between the desktop and mySAP ERP.

  • Organization management: Allows employees and managers to access organization information and HR-related tasks in the familiar Outlook environment.

Expanded Product Roadmap

In the second half of 2006, SAP and Microsoft plan to offer two value packs for Duet, providing additional business scenario support, enhanced platform capabilities and language support. These value packs will expose five additional scenarios in the Microsoft Office system coming from mySAP ERP and mySAP Business Suite applications for customer relationship management (CRM) and supplier relationship management (SRM). The scenarios are: recruitment management, travel management, analytics, purchasing management, and sales activity management. With these value packs, capabilities of Duet will go beyond self-service for employees and managers to enable line-of-business operational efficiencies and cost savings. The value packs are designed for compatibility with the next release of mySAP ERP and the 2007 release of the Microsoft Office system and will expand language support to include English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish and Japanese.

“With Duet, SAP and Microsoft are delivering a people-ready solution for our joint customers, which gives decision-makers improved access to the information they need to be effective,” said Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division. “In addition, Duet allows for both online and offline access to SAP business processes from a ubiquitous, easy-to-use Office environment. Duet will make complex tasks simple, and simple tasks nearly effortless. This version of Duet is just the first outcome in what we expect to be a highly effective relationship from our two companies.”

“For the past 15 years, SAP and Microsoft have worked together to bring first-rate solutions to customers,” said Shai Agassi, president of the Product and Technology Group and executive board member, SAP AG. “Duet extends this collaboration, bringing together the productivity environment most used by information workers with the applications most used by the enterprise. With Duet, information workers will have better visibility into enterprise information and increase their efficiency, allowing them to make faster and more accurate decisions by making enterprise processes more accessible.”

Next Major Events: SAPPHIRE® ’06 Orlando and SAPPHIRE® ’06 Paris

Join SAP and its growing ecosystem of partners to discover how co-innovation and open technologies are enabling customers to improve business processes, go to market faster and outthink and out-execute the competition. Learn first-hand how organizations of all sizes and industries around the world are using SAP® applications to accelerate innovation and energize growth at SAPPHIRE® ’06, SAP’s international customer conference, being held in Orlando, Florida, May 16-18, and in Paris, France, May 30-June 1. For more information, please visit http://www.sap.com/sapphire.

This year, SAP and the Americas’ SAP Users’ Group (ASUG) are co-locating their premier events in Orlando, where the 2006 ASUG Annual Conference takes place May 14-17.

About SAP

SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software solutions*. Today, more than 32,000 customers in more than 120 countries run SAP® software — from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small and midsize enterprises to suite offerings for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver® platform to drive innovation and enable business change, SAP business solutions help enterprises of all sizes around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP industry solutions support the unique business processes of more than 25 industries, including high tech, healthcare, retail, public sector and financial services. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol “SAP.” (Additional information at http://www.sap.com)

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

(*) SAP defines business software solutions as comprising enterprise resource planning and related software solutions such as supply chain management, customer relationship management, product life-cycle management and supplier relationship management.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations The factors that could affect SAP’s future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including SAP’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

Copyright © 2006 SAP AG. All rights reserved.

SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, xApps, xApp, SAP NetWeaver and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world.

Microsoft and Outlook are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serve informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary.

Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass on Microsoft’s corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.mspx.

Related Posts